Gulliver Among The Little People
Introduction: “Gulliver Among The Little People” is a wonderful story written by Jonathan swift. Gulliver is a practical-minded Englishman trained as a surgeon who takes to the seas when his business fails.
Summary
Gulliver’s adventure begins, when
he goes to the sea as a surgeon on a merchant ship, Antelope. The ship is destroyed during a heavy windstorm, and the Gulliver, the only survivor, swims to a nearby Island, Lilliput. Being nearly exhausted from the ordeal, he falls asleep. Upon wakening, he finds that the island’s inhabitants, who are no larger than six inches tall, have captured him. After the inhabitants examine Gulliver and provide him with food, the Emperor of this country orders his subjects to move Gulliver to a less used temple, the only place large enough to house him. When he wakes after his shipwreck to find himself bound by innumerable tiny threads and addressed by tiny captors who are in awe of him but fiercely protective of their kingdom. They are not afraid to use violence against Gulliver, though their arrows are little more than pinpricks. Gulliver, however, wins their confidence by his friendly nature.
Thinking about the Text | Questions and Answers
1. What happened to the ship on the way to the South Sea?
Ans. On the way to the South Sea, the ship was caught in the fierce storm caused by rain and thunder. It struck the rock and split into two.
2. What happened to the captain and the sailors?
Ans. The captain and the sailors dived into the sea and drowned as the storm was strong.
3. How did Gulliver save himself?
Ans. Gulliver swam ashore and saved himself.
4. Where did Gulliver find himself?
Ans. Lemuel Gulliver found himself all alone on an island. The island was inhabited by a tiny race of people.
5. Why was Gulliver unable to get up in the morning?
Ans. Gulliver was unable to get up in the morning because his legs and arms were firmly tied up to the ground with strings.
Language work
A) Match the words from Column A with their opposites in Column B:
Answers
B) Fill in the blanks using the following phrasal verbs:
jumped into, lay down, wake up, got up,
slipped through, ran away, shoot at, take away
i) The king said to his men, “————– his chains ————–”.
Ans. The king said to his men, “Take his chains away”.
ii) Don’t ————– birds.
Ans. Don’t shoot at birds.
iii) I usually ————– early in the morning.
Ans. I usually wake up early in the morning.
iv) Gulliver————– and found himself tied to the ground with strings.
Ans. Gulliver got up and found himself tied to the ground with strings.
v) The thief ————– when he saw the police coming.
Ans. The thief ran away when he saw the police coming.
vi) The foolish goat ————– the well.
Ans. The foolish goat jumped into the well.
vii) Gulliver ————– and fell asleep.
Ans. Gulliver lay down and fell asleep.
viii) Gulliver tried to catch some of the Lilliputians, but they all ————– fingers and ran away.
Ans. Gulliver tried to catch some of the Lilliputians, but they all slipped through fingers and ran away.
C) Create your own comparisons:
i) as tiny as an ant.
ii) as tall as a giraffe.
iii) as soft as cotton.
iv) as sharp as a knife.
v) as beautiful as a flower.
Grammar Work
Look at these sentences:
a) We washed ourselves and sat down.
b) He said to himself, “It is very late.”
The underlined words are reflexive pronouns.
Reflexive pronouns are formed by adding ‘–self’ (in singular) and ‘–selves’ (in plural) to personal pronouns.
Here is a list of reflexive pronouns:
I ————– myself
We ———– ourselves
You ———- yourself (singular)
You ———- yourselves ( plural)
He ———- himself
She ———- herself
They ———- Themselves
It ———— itself
Now fill in the blanks with reflexive pronouns given below:
1. Gulliver swam in the sea and saved ———-.
Ans. Gulliver swam in the sea and saved himself.
2. The rat found ———- in the trap.
Ans. The rat found itself in the trap.
3. The girl wanted all the toys for ———–.
Ans. The girl wanted all the toys for herself.
4. I do not think of ———- alone. I think of others too.
Ans. I do not think of myself alone. I think of others too.
5. Look in the mirror and see ———-.
Ans. Look in the mirror and see yourself.
6. Muskan and Munazah dressed ———- in their new frocks and went out.
Ans. Muskan and Munazah dressed themselves in their new frocks and went out.
7. The host said to the guests, “Help ———-.”
Ans. The host said to the guests, “Help yourselves.”
Let’s Talk
Ask the learner to imagine himself/herself in a fairyland and discuss his/her adventures with the class.
had a pleasant dream last night. I went to bed late and was fast asleep. Suddenly, I felt that I was in fairyland. There was a big garden. The flowers were blooming. The fairies were singing beautiful songs. One fairy came to me and greeted me with a sweet smile. She offered me a small chair to sit on and enjoy the dance. Then I saw a little child playing on the flute. He arrived amid the fairies. Some dwarfs and elves were sitting nearby. There was a beautiful river. The Sun was shiny and a cool breeze was blowing.
I sat under a shady tree. The tree was laden with fruits. The child brought some fruits for me. Then they again started singing and dancing. It was a beautiful scene.
Let’s Write
Write a few lines on any, imaginary situation of a fantastic nature.
It was a different world. There were gardens all around. The gardens were full of various kinds of multicoloured flowers. The fragrance of flowers was so sweet that I can’t express in words. There were also all kinds of fruits. I stuffed as many as I could. You can believe that there were singing birds of all sorts that were singing so sweet. Some beautiful with crystal clear water also run through the gardens. The water in the streams tasty as it was milk mixed with honey. It was really a great world.
